I dont mean to make the wolf issue a small thing but if you think about it, Keith Warnke has done way more damage to our deer herd than 5,000 wolves could do. The wolves absolutely need to be kept in check but so do the people who make our hunting rules.

Gafrage, I guess I'll be the first to ask. When you do buy all this land, can I have permission to hunt on it?

Everything needs it's check/balance.....wolves, yote, bear, DNR, etc... We must be on top of the food chain, meaning we must control the wolf population. I think we all can agree on that but how? The Fed and treehuggers have made that impossible. I still can't believe somebody reported a wolf killed in the western part of the state. Just wait, wolves are a aggresive preditor and they are not bound to large wooded public land area. They move for food, sooner or later, they'll be in the backyard. Once someone gets attacked or farmers lose cattle, the tone will change.

Anyway, there is a separate thread on wolves. I think it's a problem but not nearly a problem as overharvest. I still believe Warnke and the DNR are just a puppet for the Dept of Agri and the govenor, the people making the decisions.

Status: online My grandpa just read an article in, i believe, Outdoor Journal. They article said that the DNR was planning on keeping the EAB till 2012, with an option to go to 2017. I could not believe that.

Here is a link to all the units that the DNR is thinking of making an EAB next year, nearly the whole state.

Wack, none of us had any real problem with your plan. The main goal here is getting the money maker for WI to stay here. None of us want our taxes to go up because people quit deer hunting. I don't think there is any other income that goes directly to the state that has as much of an impact on our roads, etc. The over harvest and wolves are taking their toll on the Wisconsin Deer Herd.

Dinosaurs lived in Wisconsin at one point and time, if we're bringing wolves back, let's bring Dinosaurs back as well. We can't have just one predator that dominates everything. We need to balance out the predators too. Let's release cougars, salt water crocs, Bengal Tigers, Brown Bears, Grizzly's all kinds of things. The predators need to balance out the predators and keep themselves in check too. The thing most people fail to recognize, is this is WI, not Alaska, or remote parts of Canada.

Elk will help our #1 money maker stick around longer and could eventually become number 1 even with 700,000 -1,000,000 deer in the state. No this isn't Alaska, but we have a lot of good habitat and the biologists say that the habitat needs the elk. The more elk, the less pressure on deer and more secure our future will be. That's the biggest misconception people make. We don't have room or habitat for elk, we'll never get to hunt them. If we do nothing, no, we'll never get to hunt them. How long it takes doesn't matter. Even as for viewing only, they'd help our economy from tourists and already have. With minimal effort and 500 elk, we could be hunting in 20 years. Other states have done it in 10. Funny part is the habitat up north is good. The best elk habitat is in central southern WI. The Savannah plains. I'm not saying it's a good idea, but it would be nice to have that option.
We can actually bring dinosaurs back? Balancing wolves bears deer and elk would be easier than wolves bears and deer. We don't need more predators, we need more predator food. 5th grade biology. We are very close to getting it done but not enough support from hunters. DNR biologists are all for it, DNR has funding for it, RMEF are fighting OUR battle. Yet we here in WI are too stupid to help them out.
Well you just might be able to hunt next year with a gun. The DNR says they screwed up, miscounted the deer and may revise the EAB program next year in certain areas. Where most of the wolves are, it wasn't EAB this year. The way this winter is piling up so far, it's going to be a long hard winter. So if your area isn't EAB next year, does it still pay to take out the gun? Just between wolves and winter kill, there will be no deer. If you hunted EAB this year, it means your area had more deer than the regular units. If you didn't see deer in your EAB unit and you're already complaining, you're really going to complain once your unit is at DNR goal. There is no guarantee that populations won't go below the DNR goal. It's very possible we may all have to take a year or more off hunting and become photographers. Problem with that is there's no guarantee we'll ever be able to hunt deer again and chances are high that we've seen the biggest deer population ever. It was fun while it lasted. Maybe if we give mother nature back her elk and buffalo, she'll let us keep some deer.
If you can afford to buy up land, you can afford $35 for RMEF membership to help our elk, that will help our deer, that will help fight for wolf delisting, which will help our bear population, help improve our habitat, help our DNR, our economy...
Then go to the DNR meetings and say what you have to say about deer, EAB, CWD,wolves, Ag tags, planting cash crops on public hunting grounds, management plans and just for me, ask what about the elk in Clam Lake area? Black River Falls. At least in one little part of WI. we could restore the land to nearly perfect and hope it catches on and spreads. We can do this in the next couple years or we can do this after all the deer are gone and wolves destroyed and have to start from scratch.

Gafrage, I guess I'll be the first to ask. When you do buy all this land, can I have permission to hunt on it?

Maybe. I do hope land prices go back to what they were 10 years ago. 1500 an acre would make for a lot of land to hunt and manage a good population, with the right food, cover and minimal hunting pressure. Just a matter of time. As far as the elk conversation. I'm done with that, I don't have the time or energy to disagree with that. This is a deer and deer hunting forums, so for now, that's what I am going to stick to. If they get it done, great...more power to them. I was thinking about that too. Nothing like seeing a bison or elk on my way to work on the short drive down 151 to Madison. Hope it doesn't cut me off on an icy day, or any day really. Herd of Bison/Elk cause major delay in the Madison Metro area. I can see the headlines now.

Gafrage, we're basically neighbors. Live in Arlington/poynette...work in Sun Prairie. Hunt on farms in Poynette, Pardeeville and by Cascade Mnt. Deer numbers aren't great in these area but you must be up near Columbus/ Rio area. I've seen better deer numbers up there. We should stop and have a beer sometime. lol

I live/work/do a little schooling here(Sun Prairie), however, I hunt in Waupaca County. If I had a choice, that's where I'd buy land. Although, Buffalo county wouldn't be a bad choice, since everyone there does QDM...however, I have a feeling that the land there isn't going to drop at all, because the whole county is pretty much doing QDM. It sure pays off when you have large tracts of land that all has the same goal. That's a perfect example.

Gafrage, 151 doesn't go anywhere near Clam Lake and Black River Falls. Your commute will be safe all the way to Madison. lol Nobody wants elk or buffalo down south or even in central WI. that would be as foolish as bringing back dinosaurs. As far as collisions up north, read the reports, it's all in there.
We have to work the politics. Feds require wolves. WI. requires Fed funding for wolves, elk, roads, signs fences education.. Fed funding create local jobs to make roads safer....
If I just could get President Teddy Roosevelt to explain to Obama and Doyle how to fix this mess, I would.
....So forget the elk, and tell me your plan.

Wack, not sure much of a plan is needed. I see no reason to reinvent the wheel(or food chain that is). If they(the Fed) wants the wolves, come and get them. Dart them and haul away. We have an ecosystem that can support up to 500(so says the DNR), they can have the rest. Problem is, who wants them in their state? Other than some treehugger, sitting in office in the middle of the city. These people think of it like its some sort of petting zoo, Jeesh!

Although wolves are a little part of the problem, overharvest is the largest. Best plan against that is pretty simple, stop it.